Artifact Details

Title

Altair 680b

Catalog Number

X679.86

Type

Physical object

Description

The Altair 680b was developed after the original 8800. The Altair 8800 kit was introduced as the cover story on the January 1975 edition of Popular Electronics. Though 'home-brew' experimental systems exsisted well before the Altair, none had the Altair's wide-reaching popularity. Word length: 8 bits. CPU Circuitry: Intel 8080. Prymary Memory: 256 Bytes. Price: $ 397. The Altair inspired Bill Gates, then at Harvard University, to write a BASIC assembler so that users could easily program the machine. This was the start of Microsoft. MITS was sold to Pertec and the Altair line did not last long.

Date

1976

Manufacturer

Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (MITS)

Place Manufactured

U.S.

Identifying Numbers

Model number 680b
Serial number C10518

Dimensions

5 x 11 x 11 in.

Category

Digital computer/personal computer/desktop

Credit

Gift of James Post

Lot Number

X679.86